Manufacture of glass.



PATENTED JULYE, 1904. S. O. RICHARDSON, In. MANUFAGT URE 0F GLASS.APPLICATION nun MAR. 29, 1903.

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Miineflgeg No. 764,501. PATENTED JULY 5,1904. s. 0. RICHARDSON, JR.MANUFACTURE OF GLASS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED MAR. 23. 1903.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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No. 764,501. PATENTED JULY 5, 1904. s. 0. RICHARDSON, JR.

MANUFACTURE OF GLASS.

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No. 764,501. PATENTED JULY 5, 1904.

S. O. RICHARDSON, J12. MANUFACTURE OF GLASS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED MAB. 28, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- XAZZZZ E5 555 NITED STATES Patented July 5,1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

MANUFACTURE OF GLASS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,501, dated July 5,1904.

Application filed March 28, I903- To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, SoLoN OSMOND Rron- ARDSON, Jr., a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in theManufacture of Glass, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention to provide a process for effectively castingglass directly from the working chamber of a glass-furnace withoutintermediate handling, and especially to provide such a process inconnection with a con tinuously'operating glass-fu rnace. These and suchother objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the processhereinafter described, which may be conveniently practiced with theapparatus shown in the accompanying (:lrawings, in which- Figure 1 is aplan view of one form of furnace embodying my invention, the Viewshowing part of the crown broken away. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsectional View thereof on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional view on the line 3 3 of Figs. 1 and 2 looking in the directionindicated by the arrows. Fig. 4. is a transverse section on the line 4c4 of Figs. 1 and 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing part of the crown and walls of thefurnace broken away. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional detail on the line 66 of a modification of my invention, and Fig. 7 is a plan view of Fig. 6with part of the crown and walls broken away.

. Like letters of reference indicate the same parts in the severalfigures of the drawings. Referring by letter to the accompanyingdrawings, A indicates the outer walls of a familiar form oftank-furnace, said furnace being divided by a bridgeqvall B into areducing-chamber O and a working-chamber 1), connected by a passage Ethrough said bridgewall. The bridge-wall B does not extend to the top ofthe furnace.

F F indicate regenerators of any familiar.

type having air and gas ports and by means of which the batch isreduced.

F is the crown of the furnace, extendmg Serial No. 150,007. (Nospecimens.)

[ over the reducing-chamber O and the working chamber D.

The bridge-wall being of less height than the furnace, it will beobvious that there is free communication between the chambers O and Dover the top of the bridgerwall. The end wall G of the furnace is alsoof less height than the furnace and may be, as shown, of substantiallythe same height as the bridge wall and provided with a spout H.

Arranged adjacent to the wall Or of the furnace is an auxiliarystructural, comprising a casting-chamber J and an adjoining chamber K.The spout H projects into the casting chamber J, as is clearly shown inFig. The casting-chamber J is separated from the adjoining chamber K bymeans of an arch L, opposite to which is a second arch M, so arrangedthat a table N, with whatever is carried thereby, may pass thereunder.(See Fig. 3.) As illustrated in the drawings, the table N is mounted ontrucks. 0, arranged to run on rails P. Adjacent to the table N andprefcrab] y connected therewith in any convenient manner is a blank orblock Q, arranged to be moved along the rails P and of such dimensionsthat when moved into the casting-chamber J it will substantially lillall of the space betweenthc vertical walls of said chamber below thearches, thereby shutting off communication between the interior and theexterior of the furnace.

As shown in Fig. l the parts are arranged for use in the manufacture ofplate-glass. The furnace being of the continuous type, the metal as itfills the working chamber 1) will overflow through the spout H and ontothe table N. The casting-chamber being in free communication over thewalls G and B with the interior of the furnace, a fierce heat will beradiated into the casting-chamber and above the table N and of asufficiently high temperature to maintain the glass in a liquidcondition while the plate of glass is being cast upon the table N. Assoon as the working chamber D is filled the metal will overflow throughthe spout H and'onto the table N. The casting-cha111ber being in directand free communication with the reducing and working chaml bers, thetemperature in the casting-chamber may be maintained at such a degreethat the metal as it flows through the spout H and onto the table N isat substantially the same tem perature, and consequently at the samedegree of fluidity, as in the working chamber D, and so I obtain an evenflow and spread of the glass upon the table N before there is any suchcooling and solidifying of the glass as Will interfere with the castingprocess. As the glass flows from the spout H in a fluid stream, it isonly necessary to close the spout H in any well-known manner to stop theflow of glass, so there will be no instrumental cutting of the glass andno resulting shear and consequent marring of the casting.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown a modified form of my furnace in which Iuse a cylindrical ladle U, pivotally mounted below the spout H andprovided with a casting-spout u, the top of the ladle immediatelyadjacent to the spout H being open. In connection with this modificationI can conveniently use a pivoted casting-table V, extending partiallyoutside of one wall of the casting-chamber and arranged to support anumber of molds I The cylindrical ladle U may be conveniently operatedby a crank-arm X, extending outside of the furnace and arranged to movethe ladle upon its pivot. In using this modified form of my inventionthe ladle U is normally in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7The table V is rotated upon its pivot, the molds W being placed in orderupon the exposed portion of the top of the table, which projects outsideof the furnace, and being brought in turn under the spout u of the ladleU. By means of any convenient peephole the position of the molds can bewatched, and as each mold in turn comes under the ladle U the ladle willbe tipped to casting position, as shown in Fig. 7 and will be returnedto the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6 as each casting iscompleted. The continued rotation of the table V in turn brings eachfilled mold outside of the furnace, where it can be removed and replacedby an empty mold, and so the casting process can be carried oncontinuously.

When using my process with an apparatus constructed as shown in Figs. 6and 7, I have the advantage of being able, by means of my process, tofill each mold in its turn with perfectly fluid glass, which flowsfreely into the molds, fills every corner and interstice with- 1 out thenecessity for pressure of any sort, and which settles to an even leveland leaves a smoothand finished top surface.

While for motives of economy it is desirable to heat the casting-chamberin the manner shown in the drawings by heat radiated from the reducingor working chambers, or both, obviously the desired temperature can bemaintained in the casting-chamber by auxiliary or entirely independentmeans without departing from the spirit of my invention. For thepurposes of my process it is only necessary that the temperature in thecastingchamber shall be such a temperature as shall maintain thefluidity of the glass during its casting. In practice there may bewithout harm a variation of several hundred degrees in temperature, for,as is well known in .this art, there is often such a variation in thetemperature of the glass at different points in the melting-pot whilethe glass is all in a molten state.

I claim- 1. The process of manufacturing glass, which comprisesconfining a body of molten glass in the presence of a reducingtemperature, continuously adding fresh batch to the molten glass soconfined, thereby causing a portion of the molten glass to overflow intoa casting zone in which the temperature is kept at a sufficient degreeto maintain the glass in a suflicientl y fluid condition to permit ofits being cast into definite form, and conducting such overflow intomeans located in said casting Zone, whereby the glass so conducted isgiven definite form.

2. The continuous process of manufacturing glass, which comprisessubjecting a body of molten glass to a continuously-maintained reducingtemperature, adding fresh batch to said body of molten glass, therebycausing a portion of the molten glass to overflow into a casting Zone,maintaining the temperature in said casting Zone, by heat radiated fromthe reducing Zone, at a degree sufficiently high to maintain theoverflowing glass in a sufliciently fluid condition, and casting theglass into definite form within said casting Zone by conducting suchoverflowing glass into suitable casting means located within saidcasting zone.

SOLON OSMOND RICHARDSON, JR.

Witnesses:

W. F. DONOVAN, C. I. HILLs.

